Packaging container

ABSTRACT

A PACKAGING CONTAINER THERMOFORMED OUT OF ONE SHEET OF THERMOPLASTIC MATERIAL TO CONTAIN AN ARTICLE FOR ARTICLES IN SUSPENSION BY MEANS OF FOUR SEPARATE WALLS PROVIDED WITH CAVITIES, WHICH ARE FORMED ALONG THE TOP OF FOUR SEPARATE TRIANGULAR OR SIMILAR PROJECTIONS SO AS TO FORM THE COMPLETE CONTOUR OR SOMETIMES THE SUSTAINING WALLS LARGER THAN THE CONTOUR OF SOME PARTS OF THE ARTICLE OR ARTICLES, WHEN THIS CONTAINER IS FOLDED UP AT THE LINES SEPARATING THESE PROJEC-   TIONS, THE FOLDED UP CONTAINER REPRESENTS A HANDY BOX WITH SQUARE OR RECTANGULAR WALLS OF TWO SIDES ENCHANCING THE STRUCTURAL STRENGTH OF THE CONTAINER AS A WHOLE, A SHEET OF PLASTIC MATERIAL OR OF CARDBOARD WHICH IS ALOS FOLDABLE IS ATTACHED TO ONE END OF THE FLANGE PART OF THE THUS REALIZED CONTAINER AND FOLDED OVER THE ALREADY FOLDED BODY OF THE CONTAINER AS ITS EXTERNAL COVER.

United States Patent 9 [72] Inventor Yoshimasa Miyata Osaka, Japan [211 App]. No. 803,662 [22] Filed Mar. 3, 1969 [45] Patented June 28, 1971 [73] Assignee Planny Kabushiki Kaisha(P1anny, Ltd.)

Osaka, Japan [32] Priority June 12, 1968, Dec. 24, 1968 [33] Japan [3 1 43/49397 and 43/ 1 12936 [54] PACKAGING CONTAINER 24 Claims, 31 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl 206/46, 206/65, 229/2.5, 229/14 [51] Int. Cl 865d 5/58, B65d 85/30 [50] Field of Search; 206/46 (FRAGlLE), 46 (F.C.M.), 65, 45.19, 45.14, 45.33;

229/14 (C), 2.5, 27, 29 (MOLDED), 28, 6

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,668,755 5/1928 Bergmann 229/27 Primary Examiner-William T. Dixson, .lr. Attorney-Craig, Antonelli, Stewart & Hill ABSTRACT: A packaging container thermoformed out of one sheet of thermoplastic material to contain an article or articles in suspension by means of four separate walls provided with cavities, which are formed along the top of four separate triangular or similar projections so as to form the complete contour or sometimes the sustaining walls larger than the contour of some parts of the article or articles, when this container is folded up at the lines separating these projections; the folded up container represents a handy box with square or rectangular walls of two sides enhancing the structural strength of the container as a whole, a sheet of plastic material or of cardboard which is also foldable is attached to one end of the flange part of the thus realized container and folded over the already folded body of the container as its external cover.

PATENTED JUN28 1971 3587. 838

sum 1 [1r 5 Yoshimasa Miyata INVENTOR BY UM PATENTEU JUN28 I911 315 8718 3.8

sum 2 or 5 Yoshimasa Miyata,

INVENT )R BY MMAQMMELZLL ATTORNEY S PATENTEUJuH28|sn 3587,8138

SHEET 3 0F 5 BY MMQWJELLL t ATTORNEYS PATENTED JUN28 I971 SHEET 0F 5 Yoshimasa Miyata,

INVENTOR BY mmillflk xk ATTORNIL'Y PATENTEU JUN28 I971 3587.838

sum 5 OF 5 Yoshimasa Miya ta TNVENTOR BYMJMMLXALLL 10M,

ATTORNEY PACKAGING CONTAINER This invention relates generally to a plastics packaging container, and more specifically to a type of container wherein the product to be contained is supported in suspension within thin walls which have been joined to form the contour of the product.

This invention herein provides a packaging container thermoformed out of one sheet of thermoplastic material to receive or contain an article or articles in suspension within four separate thin walls of cavities, the four separate cavities having been formed in the top of each of the separate projections so as to constitute the complete contour or sometimes the sustaining walls larger than the contour of some parts of the article or articles, when this container is folded up at the lines separating these projections, to construct a handy form of a box with square or rectangular walls of two vertical sides enhancing the structural strength of the container as a whole, and a sheet of plastics or of cardboard also'foldable, which is attached to one end of the flange part of this container and folded over the already folded body of container as its external cover.

Heretofore the intricate products such as precision instruments and fragile commodities are usually packed with two coupling pieces of containers molded of foam plastic material with cushion wall cavities or on a tray of the same kind set in a box during transit and handling.

The foremost feature of this invention is that it provides a packaging container of new design concept of high protective performance supporting the commodity in suspension.

In addition to this shock absorbing feature of this new design concept of a packaging container, many other merits are found in this invention.

First, it is the inexpensiveness of the production cost involved in this container when it is compared with other kinds of shock absorbing type packaging materials. Nowadays, the packaging industry uses many automatic sheet forming machines for fabricating plastic cups and trays that are disposable after one use. Such conventional facilities are utilizable for the production of this container. This fact can be cited to point out the high efficiency with which this container can be made. Moreover, thin gauge thermoplastic sheet material of high impact strength that is required for the fabrication of this container as its starting material is now readily available in the commercial market. Together with the comparative inexpensiveness in the necessary material, the high efficiency of production contributes to achieve the low cost of the container of this invention.

Second, it can save a great deal of space, when it is compared with other kinds of cushioning packaging materials. The marginal merit is more conspicuous when it is not in use. This packaging container can be stored or transported in stacks, that is to say, nested one onto another without occupying its whole dimensional space. It is hardly necessary to mention here that this feature is very important for the users of packaging materials.

Third, it must be pointed out that the next feature of this container can be found in the transparency, when it is required. It can keep the contained or package product visible. Nowadays transparent packaging material is by no means new. But when it comes to the problem of keeping intricate products such as precision instruments and fragile items visual in a shock absorbing packaging material throughout the entire process of merchandising from factory to retail shop, the matter involves a different story. Most of the shock absorbing packaging material commonly used today is not transparent, whereas the complete visibility of the product contained in the container according to this invention is easily assured, when it is necessary.

Fourth, it may be cited as the fourth feature of this container that no external box of any kind is required, whereas this is not the case with other shock absorbing packages. An external box is required with the prior art containers not only for supporting the cushionable material, if not for protective purpose, but also for printing so called commercials." In the case of the container herein, however, the integral part of it can be made of printable cardboard or of plastic sheet material, perfonning at the same time the function of reinforcing the structural strength as its external cover of its own entity. Accompanying this application are drawings showing several forms of this invention wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective showing the basic concept of this invention in its preliminary stage, wherein a sheet of thin gauge plastics is formed after in accordance with the contour of four triangular projections that are aligned without clearance between them, this being the form of a square block diagonally cut into four parts and extended in alignment.

FIG. 2 is a view in perspective of the formed plastic sheet folded up into the original form of a square block with four triangular cavities accessible from the outsides.

FIGS. 3 & 4 are respectively unfolded and folded views in perspective of a variation in the basic concept of this container wherein two of the four projections are of trapezoidal form in cross section.

FIG. 5 shows in perspective view the four separate triangular projections each provided with a cavity on the top in the form of one quarter of the contour of a glass cup so that, when folded up, a complete contour of a glass cup is formed as shown in FIG. 6 which is its horizontal cross section.

FIG. 6 is a cross section through the folded up container of FIG. 5, taken at right angle to the axis of the cup.

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of a formed plastics container for a square bottle to be contained as an example.

FIG. 8 is an elevational view of the container of FIG. 7 as viewed from the top in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is an elevational view of one of FIGS. 7 and 8 as seen from the left and formed on the top of a triangular projection.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view ofthe container of FIGS. 7- -9 is folded up.

FIGS. 11 and 12 are respectively, end and plan views of a container with multiple cavities to pack six glass cups with conical side walls.

FIGS. 13a, 13b, 13c and 13d show respectively partial elevational views of each cavity to be formed on the top of four separate triangular projections as seen from the left in FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is an elevational view when the container of FIGS. 12, 13a, 13b, 13c and l3dis folded up.

FIGS. 15 and 16 show an example in perspective view of this container when the container is provided with attached sheet of foldable cardboard or of plastics as its external protective wall for reinforcing its structural strength, FIG. 15 being before and FIG. 16 being after folding.

FIG. 17 shows a sectional view of an example of this container wherein a small size motor of a tape recorder is contained in suspension within the sustaining walls of cavities that are larger in some part than the exact contour of the article.

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view of a container similar to FIG. 17, and illustrating that the projections are wall, when joined, with a vacancy or empty space sometimes in some part of it.

FIGS. 19 and 20 show in cross-sectional view other examples wherein a variation in the form of projections is shown.

FIG. 21 shows in cross-sectional view an example of double suspension concept of this container.

FIGS. 22 and 23 show respectively a vertical and horizontal view of another example of double suspension concept in sectron.

FIG. 24 shows an unfolded view of an example of this container adapted to receive a round object like a glass ball, which illustrates that, instead of forming two side walls vertically in four triangular forms, it is possible to form them in two pyramid forms. In such case the commodity to be contained is to be supported by means of six separate walls of cavities on each top of pyramid form of projections.

FIG. 25 shows a side view of FIG. 24.

FIGS. 26, 27 and 28 show respectively its bottom, side and plan views.

The container herein given is thermoformed out of one sheet of thin gauge thermoplastic material. As seen in FIG. 1, the basic form of this container consists of four triangular projections b, c, d and e separated from one another by the linesj, k and [disposed in the same plane as a flange aalong the periphery. And when folded along the lines j, k and lso that the plane m meets with the plane g, n with h, o with i, andf with p, the formed thermoplastic sheet constitutes a square shape with four triangular cavities accessible from the four outsides as seen in FIG. 2. It is not always necessary that each angle 61, 92, 93 and 94 is equal, as seen in FIG. 11, but total of these angles should always be 360", regardless of the number of the triangular projections. It is needless to say that the width W and the length L of the original sheet size can be freely chosen. As seen in FIG. 3, it should be added that the projection is not always necessarily triangular in section, but sometimes it comes in a combination of two triangular projections q and s, and two trapezoid projections r and t to constitute, when folded, a rectangular form in section as in FIG. 4.

FIG. 5 shows that each of the four projections is formed recessed in part from the apex thereof so that, when folded, these four recessed projections joined to form the contour ofa glass cup X ofcircular or round shape as seen in FIG. 6 to support the cup X in suspension by means of the walls 2,3, 4, 5, 8 and 9.

It is needless to add here that, at the time of forming, ribs 6 and 7 can be added to the plain recessed parts as well as at the bottom of cavities with the aim to reinforce the dimensional strength of the container, since this is readily within the scope of those skilled in the art. It may be important, however, to say that any freely chosen commodity can be contained within this container, since it is easy to form four cavities on the top of four separate projections without encountering any undercut angle problem by dividing the contour of any given object into four parts. Whereas it very often constitutes the foremost technical problem in sheet forming to solve or bypass the undercut angle of an object, the invention herein provides a new technique of forming any shape of contour ofa given object by dividing the contour into three, usually four and sometimes more parts, and at the same time permitting these subdivided parts to be joined again after forming the same from one sheet of thermoplastics.

The container of this invention can pack multiple articles at one time as seen in FIGS. ll, 12 and 13, wherein an example shows six glass cups of conical side wall to be packed in one container. As seen in FIGS. 15 and 16, a sheet of cardboard or of plastic sheet can be attached to one end of the formed part of this container so that the cardboard or plastic sheet can be folded over the body of the formed part of this container, having been folded up itself to construct the external structure of this container to reinforce the dimensional strength. The plastic sheet can be used, it is needless to explain, if the extension or continuation of the original sheet is left unformed, instead of another sheet being attached later.

The qualities of the packaging structure are enhanced by the characteristics of the thermoplastics sheet to be used for forming. These characteristics comprise a thermoplastics composition which has high impact strength with synthetic rubber in its ingredients; will not soften or deform at temperature in the tropic climate; will not crack easily at far below 0 centigrade; will retain resiliency after the time interval of at least 2 years from the time of production. Such plastic materi als usually comprise butadiene. And when transparency is required of the container for visual merchandising purposes of the commodity to be packed, a polyvinyl chloride compound may be recommended comprising butadiene and very little or not part ofa plasticizer for the sheeting to be used for the container herein described.

The packaging container above described is made conventionally by resorting to vacuum forming, pressure forming or by vacuum and pressure forming techniques. But it may be mentioned that blow-molding may also be used instead of the other mentioned sheet forming methods to get this type of packaging container with minor variation in the form of the container. In this case four separate pieces can be blowmolded for subsequent joining to support an article in a loop of cardboard or of plastics.

I wish it understood that minor changes and variations in the technique of fabricating this packaging container may be resorted to without departing from the principle of invention and scope of the appended claims.

Iclaim:

l. A packaging container of the suspension type in which an article or articles of predetermined three dimensional shape are held in suspension, comprising a sheet of plastic material adapted to be thermoformed with at least three projections thermoformed from and extending out of said sheet on the same side thereof thereby forming in said sheet a number of cavities each having four wall portions, the number of cavities corresponding to the number of projections, recess means in the apex portions of said projections providing a suspensiontype accommodation of predetermined shape for the article within said container, when folded along lines generally extending in a longitudinal direction within the area of connection between adjacent projections, said recess means generally extending in a direction opposite to that of the projections and providing double-walled end portions protecting the article in the longitudinal direction, and external cover means externally covering the cavities and secured to said sheet.

2. A packaging container according to claim 1, wherein each projection includes two angularly disposed wall portions interconnected at their end opposite said sheet and two reinforcing end wall portions disposed substantially perpendicularly to said longitudinal direction and closing a respective cavity at both ends thereof.

3. A packaging container according to claim 2, wherein the sum of the angles formed by the intersection of each two angularly disposed wall portions is approximately equal to 360.

4. A packaging container according to claim 3, wherein said sheet and said end wall portions are substantially flat.

5. A packaging container according to claim 4, wherein said angularly disposed wall portions are substantially flat with mutually facing angularly disposed wall portions of adjacent projections abutting against each other in the folded condition of the container.

6. A packaging container according to claim 3, wherein each recess means is spaced a distance from the corresponding end wall portions.

7. A packaging container according to claim 1, wherein said double-walled end portions extend in planes disposed approximately at right angle to the folding lines.

8. A packaging container according to claim 3, wherein at least some of the projections are substantially triangular in cross section in a plane at right angle to the longitudinal direction.

9. A packaging container according to claim 3, wherein at least some of the projections are substantially trapezoidal in cross section in a plane at right angle to the longitudinal direction.

10. A packaging container according to claim 3, wherein at least some of the projections are polygonal in cross section in a plane at right angle to the longitudinal direction.

11. A packaging container according to claim 3, wherein said cover means is in one piece with and attached to flanges of the sheet.

12. A packaging container according to claim 11, wherein said cover means is made from the same material as said sheet and is integral therewith.

13. A packaging container according to claim 2, wherein four projections are provided.

14. A packaging container according to claim 3, wherein each cavity has more than four walls.

15. A packaging container according to claim 3, wherein said recess means provides a double suspension of the article.

16. A packaging container according to claim 3, wherein six pyramidlike projections each provided with recess means form the container, with four projections being aligned in one direction and the other two projections being disposed on both exposed sides of one of the aligned projections.

17. A packaging container thermoformed from a sheet of thermoplastic material to package an article or articles held therein in suspension, comprising at least three projections, each projection including at least two angularly disposed wall portions whose length determines the height of the package and two end wall portions, the angularly disposed wall portions extending toward one another from a base plane and the two end wall portions extending reinforcingly across the outer ends of said angularly disposed wall portions to form therewith a cavity, at least some of said projections being recessed within the area of the interconnection of two angularly disposed wall portions in accordance with the requirement of the article to be suspended and each recess terminating with a recessed end wall portion formed thereby a predetermined distance from the corresponding end wall portion so that a double-walled end wall structure is formed thereby, all but one projection being attached to the next projection along a line in the respective base plane constituting also the fold line between adjacent projections, each end wall portion being adjoined substantially within the base plane by a flange portion, and a substantially flat outer wall cover secured to the flange portions of the projections and folded substantially along lines corresponding to said first-mentioned lines.

18. A packaging container thermoformed from a single sheet of thermoplastic material to package an article or articles held therein in suspension, comprising four projections, each projecting including at least two angularly disposed wall portions whose lengthdetermines the height of the package and two end wall portions, the angularly disposed wall portions extending toward one another from a base plane and being interconnected at the ends opposite said base plane and the two end wall portions extending reinforcingly across the outer ends of said angularly disposed wall portions at substantially right angle to form therewith a cavity, all of said projections being recessed within the area of the interconnections of two angularly disposed wall portions in accordance with the requirements of the article to be suspended and each recess terminating with a recessed end wall portion formed thereby a predetermined distance from the corresponding end wall portion so that a double-walled end wall structure is formed thereby, all but one projection being attached to the next pro- 10 jection along a line in the respective base plane constituting also the fold line between adjacent projections, each end wall portion being adjoined substantially within the base plane by an outwardly extending flange portion, and a substantially flat outer wall cover secured to the flange portions of the projections and folded substantially along lines corresponding to said first-mentioned lines.

19. A packaging container according to claim 18, wherein at least some of the projections are substantially triangular in cross section in a plane at right angle to the longitudinal direction.

20. A packaging container according to claim 18, wherein at least some of the projections are substantially trapezoidal in cross section in a plane at right angle to the longitudinal direction.

21. A packaging container according to claim 18, wherein at least some of the projections are polygonal in cross section in a plane at right angle to the longitudinal direction.

22. A packaging container according to claim 18, wherein said cover is in one piece and attached to flanges of the sheet.

23. A packaging container according to claim 18, wherein each cavity has more than four walls.

24. A packaging container according to claim 18, wherein the recesses provide a double suspension of the article. 

